Wellington City Libraries

Te Matapihi Ki Te Ao Nui

Search options

Sapphires

Decade(s) active:

We say:

Line-Up:
Kevin Croon (Lead Guitar)
Garry Bai (Rhythm Guitar)
Leo Austin (Bass Guitar)
Paddy Byrne (Drums)
Sharon Lee (Vocals)
Johnny Stevenson (Vocals)

The Sapphires were a Wellington based pop group formed around 1961. They released one single in 1961 for HMV called “Johnny Gunslinger”/”Oh Oh Rosie”. During their time, Leo Austin was replaced by Darryl Florence and Paddy Byrne was replaced by Ron Orchard.

In 1962, Johnny Stevenson went solo. His first single was “Swanee River”/”A Penny A Kiss, A Penny A Hug” for HMV. He was actually backed by the Sapphires on this single. After that he moved to Auckland and had another single in 1963 called “Mean Woman”/”The Fool”. His last single in 1964 was “Individuality”/”Knockin’ On Wood”.

Grateful acknowledgement is made to Bruce Sergent for letting us use this material from his great discographical site New Zealand Music of the 60’s, 70’s and a bit of 80’s.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *